Disc Herniations and Conservative Care

Low back pain is one of the most common health problems today with an 80% lifetime prevalence rate. It is the second highest ranked reason for visits to a primary care doctor and the number one cause of disability worldwide. In 2016, Low back and neck pain had the highest amount of health care spending over both diabetes and heart disease with a total of 134 billion dollars!

One common cause for pain in the low back is injury to the intervertebral disc. The disc is made up of two parts: 1) the inner nucleus which is a gel-like tissue that helps absorb shock and 2) the outer fibrous component that connects the outer edges of the vertebral bodies and keeps the nucleus in place. The disc can be injured in traumatic events, sustained postures, or from repetitive overuse. Injury severity can vary from small tears that cause local irritation to large tears that allow the nucleus to herniate out and press on nerves causing pain, numbness, tingling or weakness to radiate down an arm or a leg.

Treatment for these injuries can vary from simple watch and wait to full blown surgery. Some common evidence based treatments for disc herniations are chiropractic care and physical therapy. Current research shows that in typical disc injury cases chiropractic adjustments and rehab exercise have great outcomes with far lower risk and cost than surgery. There is also strong evidence that people who fail a trial of conservative care have better surgical outcomes than those that opt for surgery immediately without trying chiropractic and physical therapy first.

Keep in mind that discs are susceptible to re-injury if not rehabilitated properly. While most peoples’ pain will subside, there may be underlying biomechanical deficits that, if left unaddressed, could increase the likelihood of future injury or long term disability. Some common deficits that play a part in disc injuries include a lack of strength in the core or back, decreased hip or mid back mobility, reduced body awareness and trouble with balance. 

Here at Element Wellness we approach these cases with a focus on getting you out of pain and back to the activities you love as well as improving biomechanics to help avoid future issues. Keep in mind that your care doesn’t have to stop at fixing the problem. After rehabilitation our team will help to optimize athletic performance to get you to new goals even faster!

Dr. Luke Haroldson, DC